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Lansing Community College Library

English 122 - Composition II: Literary Criticism

Library resources for argumentative essays.

Find Literary Criticism with OneSearch

 

Find literary criticism published in peer-reviewed journals in multiple databases.

Search Tips for OneSearch

  • Put the title of the work in quotes and the author's last name, for example, "Doll's House" Ibsen
  • If you can't find criticism about a specific work, put the author's name in quotes along with the word criticism, e.g. "Luisa Valenzuela" criticism

Recommended Literature Research Databases

Choosing a Topic

Start your search using the title of the work and the author's name, but you may also broaden your search to examine:

  • Author’s Work in General
  • Themes or Motifssuch as utopia, scapegoat
  • Types of Criticism – Marxist, feminist
  • Genre – such as science fiction
  • Literary Elements – such as metaphor, imagery
  • Time & Culture – such as 20th century, women

Search for background information about an author or work.

Writing About Literature

What is Literary Criticism?

Literary criticism is the evaluation, analysis, description, or interpretation of literary works. It is usually in the form of a critical essay, but in-depth book reviews can sometimes be considered literary criticism.

Criticism may examine:

  • a particular literary work
  • an author's writings as a whole

Definition from IPL Lit Criticism Pathfinder